Metropolitan Machinists Co
Metropolitan Machinists Co of 75-6 Bishopgate Street Without, London
1883 Partnership dissolved. '...the Partnership heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned, Thomas Fuller Toovey and William Harland Hebb, carrying on business as Bicycle and Tricycle Manufacturers and Agents, at No. 75, Bishopsgate-street Without, in the county of Middlesex, under the style or firm of the Metropolitan Machinists' Company, and at No. 57, Queen Victoria street, in the city of London, under the style or firm of the London Cycle Supply Association, was dissolved this day by mutual consent. The respective businesses will be in future carried on by the said William Harland Hebb...'[1]
1890 Jan/Feb. The Stanley Exhibition of Cycles at the Crystal Palace. Illustrated.
1891 Advert for their 'Juno' range of bicycles. Illustrated
Juno was the name given to motorcycles sold by the Metropolitan Machinists Co of Bishopsgate, London, between 1905 and 1924.
- Machines were often built to order, and the company started out with a 3hp solo and a 3.5hp forecar fitted with Fafnir engines. Later they turned to Precision, JAP and the 269cc Villiers engines. Typical of the era, the machines had belt drive, one or two speeds and Druid forks. Because the firm was small, production was limited.
- Post World War I the company resumed again, having stopped in 1915. Production was modest and the machines were mainly built to order and to customers' specifications.
- This trend continued until at least 1924, when they were advertising a lightweight fitted with a 147cc Villiers engine, two-speed gearbox and electric lighting. By that time the company was called the Juno Cycle Co.
See Also
Sources of Information
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press
- The Engineer of 14th February 1890 p138
- The Cyclist’s Road Book by Charles Spencer. Published 1891